German ESB General Mills 45-Back Cards: (Deutsche ESB Figuren)
As you can see on the picture the German ESB card is a 45-back (45B cardback variant) with 1982 copyright. Collectors also refer to them as General Mills figures, the German
distributor for the toys, as written on the back. The German text reads "45 Aktionsfiguren zum Sammeln und Spielen mit Star Wars Raumfahrzeugen".
The printing of the cards is glossy, they are factory punched, the front does not show
the familiar Kenner logo in the lower right corner. Also there is an
extended black area located below the ESB logo. The making of the cards
is similar to the British Palitoy ESB cards. The front does not show
any German writing, onyl C-3PO w/ Removable Limbs and R2-D2 w/ Sensorscope
have German writing on the front.
There exist two main types of German ESB cardbacks, one with and one without the
"STAR WARS ACTION FIGURES Collect all 45!" writing on top. One theory is that the ones
with this English text are from the early production runs later removed for
the German market.
For me it's astonishing that on my about 30 loose cardback from different sources from Germany
I find no single card with this English text but on perhaps 1/3 of the carded figures I got from UK.
This is something still to explain.
The German carded figures were produced in the UK
together with the Palitoy and Netherlands ESB figures and later the Tri-Logos.
Some German 45-backs (ESB and ROTJ) have also been spotted with
Palitoy stickers on the back
for the UK market, produced when the paricular English cards must have run out of stock.
German 45-back "The Empire Strikes Back" Figures
Not all figures listed have been confirmed so far to exist on German ESB cards.
Check the table below for the definitely confirmed figures.
There should be 45 different figures on German ESB cards: 43 from the 45 listed plus 4-LOM and Imperial Tie Fighter Pilot. It is unlikely that Jawa, Sandpeople, or Zuckuss were produced since no one has been found so far but who knows at the end? Please let me know if you have a proof of existance for any of these. So far it is reported by bazx that Jawa and Sandpeople were still distributed as US Kenner 20-backs at that time in Germany.
The prices for German ESB cards vary widely. Rare figures easily
fetch 4-digit Euro sums if they are in nice condition. Rare figure are indicated below.
If for any chance you would like to sell any of these figures
please let me know ;-)
End of the 90s beginning 2000s Antoni Emchowicz / Toytoni in the UK
had a lot of these figures for sale, all in near mint /
mint condition. The figures he offered are listed in the table below
(basically the ones that are not "rare").
It was a big scandal in 2013 when it turned out that Antoni
had purchased a factory lot with many loose cards and bubbles.
He then bought also loose figures and carded them himself.
In the beginning all were original parts though.
Later he made also his own bubbles.
Check the link above in red for more detailled information
and consider this when buying.
No. on Card |
Name |
Confirmed? |
Rare? |
Toytoni had these? |
10 |
2-1B |
|
|
Yes |
(46) |
4-LOM |
|
rare |
|
3 |
AT-AT Commander |
|
|
Yes |
13 |
AT-AT Driver |
|
|
Yes |
42 |
Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi (white hair) |
|
|
Yes |
42 |
Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi (gray hair) |
|
|
Yes |
2 |
Bespin Security Guard (black) |
|
|
Yes |
23 |
Bespin Security Guard (white) |
|
|
Yes |
31 |
Boba Fett |
|
rare |
|
20 |
Bossk (Bounty Hunter) |
|
|
Yes |
5 |
C-3PO (Removable Limbs) |
|
|
Yes |
39 |
Chewbacca |
|
|
Yes |
35 |
Darth Vader |
|
rare |
|
44 |
Death Star Droid |
|
rare |
|
14 |
Dengar |
|
rare |
|
18 |
FX-7 (Medical Droid) |
|
|
Yes |
38 |
Greedo |
|
rare |
|
36 |
Hammerhead |
|
rare |
|
30 |
Han Solo |
|
|
Yes |
9 |
Han Solo (Bespin Outfit) |
|
|
Yes |
19 |
Han Solo (Hoth Outfit) |
|
|
Yes |
22 |
IG-88 (Bounty Hunter) |
|
|
Yes |
12 |
Imperial Commander |
|
rare |
|
24 |
Imperial Stormtrooper (Hoth Battle Gear) |
|
rare |
|
(47) |
Imperial Tie Fighter Pilot |
|
rare |
|
27 |
Jawa |
|
|
|
16 |
Lando Calrissian |
|
rare |
|
28 |
Leia Organa |
|
|
Yes |
26 |
Leia Organa (Bespin Gown) |
|
|
Yes |
15 |
Leia Organa (Hoth Outfit) |
|
|
Yes |
8 |
Lobot |
|
rare |
|
29 |
Luke Skywalker |
|
rare |
|
25 |
Luke Skywalker (Bespin Fatigues) |
|
rare |
|
4 |
Luke Skywalker (Hoth Battle Gear) |
|
rare |
|
43 |
Luke Skywalker (X-Wing Pilot) |
|
rare |
|
33 |
Power Droid |
|
|
Yes |
6 |
R2-D2 (With Sensorscope) |
|
|
Yes |
41 |
R5-D4 |
|
medium |
Yes |
7 |
Rebel Commander |
|
|
Yes |
21 |
Rebel Soldier (Hoth Battle Gear) |
|
|
Yes |
32 |
Sandpeople |
|
|
|
37 |
Snaggletooth |
|
rare |
|
34 |
Star Destroyer Commander |
|
rare |
|
45 |
Stormtrooper |
|
|
Yes |
1 |
(Twin Pod) Cloud Car Pilot |
|
|
Yes |
17 |
Ugnaught |
|
medium |
|
40 |
Walrus Man |
|
rare |
|
11 |
Yoda (brown snake) |
|
|
Yes |
11 |
Yoda (orange snake) |
|
|
Yes |
(48) |
Zuckuss |
|
|
|
German 45-back "Return of the Jedi" Figures
Six figures have been confirmed on German 45-backs where the
logo has been
switched from ESB to ROTJ and the copyright year changed from 1982 to 1983. Please tell me if you
know others. Some of these figures occur with a tri-logo bubble instead of an ESB single or twin stem bubble.
No. on Card |
Name |
Confirmed? |
Rare? |
Comment |
31 |
Boba Fett |
back
|
rare |
From Jason Smith's page. |
(47) |
Imperial Tie Fighter Pilot
|
back
|
rare |
|
1 |
(Twin Pod) Cloud Car Pilot |
back
|
|
This figure was available at Toytoni (see above). |
6 |
R2-D2 (With Sensorscope) |
back
|
rare |
Jason Smith reported this R2-D2 with German back side with Palitoy "Free Nien Numb" sticker. The front is in English though. |
26 |
Leia Organa (Bespin Gown) |
back
|
rare |
From Jason Smith's page. |
43 |
Luke Skywalker (X-Wing Pilot) |
back
|
rare |
Schabby reported this Luke in 11/2015. |
Description: Wolfgang Schloegl, Bobby Sharp, Christian Dzieia, Michael Schlauß, Michael Kukla, Jason Smith
Photos: Wolfgang Schloegl, Antoni Emchowicz, Jason Smith (Mr. Palitoy)
From the collection of Wolfgang Schloegl